


Out of Their Minds

by Ava_Lydia_Stoker



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Can't Walk in Heels, Body Swap, Caitlin is The Flash, Crossover, Drinking, Dubious Science, F/F, F/M, Hilarity Ensues, Karaoke, dubcon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-23 23:59:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4897279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ava_Lydia_Stoker/pseuds/Ava_Lydia_Stoker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a simple test of new equipment to help track Barry's vitals causes some unexpected results, Caitlin and Barry find themselves walking a mile in one another's shoes. But that's the least of their concerns when a new and incredibly dangerous meta-human shows up with abilities that the team has never seen before threatens everything around them, the team will have to look to their friends from Starling City for help before it's too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Speed and The Telemetric Malfunction

Chapter One:  
The Speed and The Telemetric Malfunction

It was well after one in the afternoon by the time Dr. Caitlin Snow had decided to make the call. She had spent the last two and a half hours trying to debate the options. Should she cut in on Barry's mini-vacation or wait until tomorrow to run the test when he came back? It was Dr. Harrison Wells that had told him to take the week off to relax and unwind, but it was also his idea to bring him in a day earlier than expected to run a few minor tests on the new telemetric monitoring system Dr. Wells had spent the last few weeks developing. Still, despite the fact that the new tech would help them track him better and monitor his vitals she felt it was better to wait. That was until Dr. Wells had called in and asked her if she had been able to reach Barry yet or not. She attempted to lie to the elder scientist, but it was no use. She knew she was an awful liar and Dr. Wells was known for being able to read others. So, it was with a heavy heart and a hint of annoyance that she called her friend and asked him to come in. 

"Barry," she said when she heard him answer on the other end of the line, "you wouldn't mind if I borrowed you for about an hour, would you? If you're not busy." she added the last bit out of an effort to sooth her conscious. She felt like a total bitch as she waited for his response, but she knew it was all in her head. This didn't stop her from feeling it and the bitter taste it had left as she shuffled through the nearest file on her desk.

Finally, after what had felt to her like an eternity as she waited for him to offer an answer, Barry let out a labored sigh as he spoke. "Sure, what's can I do for you Dr. Snow?" Caitlin would have sworn if she had been asked in that moment that she could hear the trademark Barry Allen smirk through the iPhone. She knew it was her imagination, you could not actually hear such a thing, but none of this ruined her belief. To hell with the science.

"I know that Dr. Wells said you should take the week off," she made her best attempt to hide the distaste in her voice by faking a smile, "but he's asked me to ask you if you wouldn't mind if we ran a few tests?" It came out much more like a question than she had intended, but she knew there was little she could do to take it back. "Just to see how the new system handles the extreme speeds and friction." Caitlin felt stupid the moment she tried to correct herself and went back to shuffling the files in front of her. Today was not her day.

"Oh, I don't know" Barry replied as the faint sound of the television seemed to become louder in the brief silence that developed between beats in the conversation, "I have a lot of stuff left to do. Few hours left to catch up on Orange is the New Black." Barry chuckled as he mentioned the Netflix series. Caitlin had to stifle back her own laughter and for a second it felt almost like she was speaking to Ronnie and not Barry. "But I think you might be a bit more fun than that. Not to say that lesbian drama isn't fun." he added quickly.

Caitlin wasn't sure if it was because of Barry or the conversation had become lighter, but she could feel a sense of relief wash over her as she listened to her friend fumble with his words as much as she was. It was one of his more endearing qualities she had found over the course of the last few months since he had awakened from his coma. "I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not, but I can assure you our little adventure won't be near as intense or crazy as theirs. I would totally understand if you wanted to wait until tomorrow." she reasoned. Once again Barry laughed and asked her where she wanted to meet him. "Ferris Airfield."

Within a few seconds after she had ended the call she felt a swift breeze blow through the cortex and scatter several of the pages of the files she had been shuffling to distract herself earlier. She didn't need to look up to know that the source of the sudden blast of air was Barry. "I'm ready when you are." he replied as she collected some of the pages that had blown all over. Caitlin blew an errant strand of hair from her eyes and rested the pages on the control desk. "What? Oh, right." Barry said as he switched from his street clothes to the Flash uniform Cisco had upgraded for him while he was away. "Feels a little tighter."

There wasn't too much Caitlin could do other than shake her head. "Barry," she said with a hint of mock exhaustion in her voice, "I don't have the slightest idea what you mean. Tighter?" She watched as the Flash motioned down. This time the doctor was unable to quell the laughter that erupted from her. "Okay, it does look a little tighter...down there. A little bit more than usual." She watched as Barry tried to cover himself, but found it was little use.

"Shall we?" Barry asked as he held out his hand. Caitlin took a step back from the Flash and rested both hands on her hips. "What? It's the fastest way." he tried to reason. "This isn't about the last time we had Felicity and I might have caused her blouse to catch fire, is it?" Caitlin shot the Flash a look that cut right through him. Barry feigned hurt as he drew a little closer to his friend.

Caitlin threw her hands out in an effort to stop Barry. "This is about that," she said as she motioned down to the electric blue dress she was wearing, "because I like this dress. I love these heels. They match. And if you were to catch this outfit on fire..." she let her voice trail as she watched the sense of realization etch itself across his face. "We can take the S.T.A.R. Labs mobile research unit." Barry made one final attempt to protest, but before he could even form the first syllable she silenced him. "Besides, it has everything we need to run the test and monitor you."

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About half an hour later the two scientists finally arrived at the Ferris Airfield testing site. It had been a few weeks since the last time they had been there. Since the encounter with both Firestorm and The Man in the Yellow Suit. It was because of that night outside of S.T.A.R. Labs that Caitlin had watched Barry do everything within his abilities to beat the Reverse-Flash. But she had also seen the toll it had taken on him and watched as he ran faster and threw himself headfirst into his efforts. Then, out of his own concern and the concern of Cisco and Caitlin, Dr. Wells had told him to take a week off. Focus on other things. "So, what are we testing?" Barry asked breaking Caitlin's train of thought as the two of them arrived at the taxiway.

"Dr. Wells has a new cochlear telemetric analysis system," she explained as she reached behind them and retrieved a small metallic box, "it should allow us to track you faster and make it even easier to monitor your vitals." Barry could only offer her a look of confusion. "It's a lot less complicated than it sounds." Caitlin slid the case in her coat. "Let's set the command center up first and then we can figure out the details." 

Less than a minute later Barry had done all of the heavy lifting and set out the monitors out for Caitlin. She watched in awe as he rushed through a process that would have taken her the better half of an hour to do on her own. She was, in moments like this, thankful that she had a friend like Barry Allen. Someone who could do things at speeds much faster than any other living human. Expect for The Man in the Yellow Suit. "There," he said when he was finally finished with the rest of the tasks required to run the tests, "care to share with the class?"

Caitlin removed the case from her coat and rested it on the table by one of the monitors. Inside the case she was met with two small devices that looked similar to ear buds. "These's two of these?" she asked aloud. Barry came up next to her and looked at the devices in the case. "I don't know why these's two of these." she muttered to herself as she held out one for Barry. "Either way, stick this in your ear."

"You still have to explain this to me," he reminded her as he examined the device, "and this doesn't fit in the ear until you do." Caitlin crossed her arms and shook her head. "I would like to know what I am about to stick in my ear, if you don't mind. Not that I haven't stuck some strange things in odd spots these last few months." Barry mused aloud as he rolled the ear bud device in his hand.

Caitlin removed the second device and held it up to examine it herself as she explained how it functioned to the Flash. "Think of it as an M.R.I. that sits in your ear," she tried to recall how Dr. Wells had explained it to her earlier, "and it sends the information back to me." Caitlin motioned to the collection of computers in front of them. "The trouble with the old system was it was on a six second delay. I know that doesn't sound like a lot but believe me when I tell you it is when you're running around at six hundred miles an hour."

"Seven hundred and fifty." Barry corrected her as he rested the device in his left ear. "And I know, I wanted to see if you knew how it works." He watched as she shifted her weight and continued to look cross. "Right. I'm done now." he replied as he went over to the head of the taxiway.

Despite the fact that he could be a little annoying from time to time, Caitlin was relieved that it was the two of them. Cisco would have rattled on about how awesome the new tech would be and Dr. Wells would have looked at them like he was trying to decide if it was worth his effort to correct them. Most of the time she didn't mind the team dynamic, but every so often she wanted to be alone. Left to her thoughts and the numbers. As her mind drifted a little she found herself checking the monitors. None of the new data was on the screen yet. "I don't have anything yet," she announced, "have you activated the device?"

She couldn't figure out the reason the screen was blank. It wasn't until she looked over at the case and remembered that there was a second device that a thought crossed her mind. What if it functioned on a transmitter and receiver system? Both had to be on before it would operate? "Have you tried turning on the second one?" she heard Barry ask as she removed the other one and rested it in her ear. The screen remained blank. "You have to switch it on. Tap your ear like you would a Bluetooth." The moment she followed his instructions the screen flashed to life.

Caitlin could hardly believe the amount of raw data that was on the screens in front of her. Everything from Barry's heart rate to the amount of friction and static electricity that had built up scrolled down, each in their own column. "This is incredible," she said as she watched the different colors indicate what levels each vital was currently at, "you won't believe this." Caitlin was amazed at the accomplishment. She didn't think this level of data collection was even possible with the current level of technology, but she would have told you it was impossible to flash from one room to another in an instant, but recent events had shown her that it was very possible.

"Ready when you are," Barry shouted as he braced himself for the trail, "just say the word." Caitlin threw her hand up and offered him a thumbs up. The Flash didn't need a second reminder and took off. The young doctor watched as the streams of data shifted and altered in color with each new response back from the device in her friend's ear. It was so fast, in fact, that she could almost confirm that there was less than a second of delay between the time when the data was sent from Barry to her. "How's it doing?" 

"There doesn't seem to be a delay at all," she replied as she watched his heart rate bounce from red to yellow, "can you speed up a little bit? I need to see how it handles itself at higher speeds." Barry wasted no time as he ran a little faster and the telemetries continued to flash on the screen with the same rapid fire response that Caitlin had hoped for. "Great." she said as she watched him bolt around. The breeze caused a few pages to fly off the table, but she was more concerned with the data in front of her.

Distracted by the streams in front of her, Caitlin didn't notice the small click in her ear that was emitted from the device. "Should we crank it up to eleven?" Barry asked as he come back around. Caitlin thought about it for a moment before she shot him the thumbs up. It would be an apt test to see how the device handled itself once Barry had broken the speed of sound, a recent accomplishment. The old system had trouble each time he went faster than seven hundred and sixty seven miles an hour. If the new one held up...it would prove to be an invaluable addition. One that she could already tell would pay dividends. "Brace yourself!"

There was another click from the device as Barry reached speed and caused a sonic boom. But it was too late. Caitlin had no time to react as the shock wave blasted her back a few feet. Pages went flying, several of the monitors shut down, and debris danced across the taxiway. The last thing she could recall seeing was the way Barry's body had went limp and crashed several hundred yards down the taxiway. A moment later everything went black.


	2. An Unexpected Situation

Chapter Two:  
An Unexpected Situation

If not for the obnoxious sound of Caitlin's iPhone skittering across the asphalt of the taxiway at the Ferris Airfield, Barry might not have found his way back to consciousness quite as easily. His first instinct upon being brought back to reality was to check on Caitlin and make sure that she wasn't knocked unconscious like he was, but he soon found out that his mind wasn't as sharp as it usually was. There was a lull in his ability to clear the haze of sleep and wakefulness. It was a state of being that he had not experienced since before he was brought out of his coma. Determined to clear the fog from his mind, Barry tried to sit up but found himself unable to. A brief spark of discomfort coursed through his entire body as he moved his arms behind himself in an effort to remove himself from the asphalt. Another wave of confusion washed over him as he noticed the alien weight that was rested upon his chest, but his mind was still caught between the question of Caitlin's safety and its own need to focus to take stock of the unusual situation. "Cai..." he said aloud, but caught himself as he noticed there was something off about his voice. He was unsure if it was the inherent confusion of the sonic blast or if there was actually a difference in his voice, but a sudden sense of clarity descended upon him as he saw a familiar shape draw closer to him. One that he recognized almost immediately.

"Barry?" asked the man standing in front of him. There seemed to be an unease about him, one that Barry himself felt as the haze cleared from his mind and all the dots started to connect for him. "Please tell me that's you because if it isn't..." the Flash said as he removed the mask from his face and stood before the real Barry Allen. As he tried to collect his thoughts the man in front of him ran his right hand through Barry's hair and let out a labored sigh. "This can't be. There is no way in hell that I am standing in the body of a man looking down at myself." he muttered to himself as he started to walk back and forth. 

There was a hint of something familiar about the man in Barry's skin that didn't fully sink in until Barry managed to collect himself enough from the initial disbelief to reach the solution that was on the tip of his tongue. "Caitlin?" Once again he noticed that his voice was soft and undeniably feminine. "This is..." he muttered to himself as he looked down at himself and confirmed what his mind had been trying to tell him for the last couple of minutes. "I have breasts." he announced as his hands found their way to the cleavage that he was now showing much more of than he would have liked. Caitlin, in his body, reached over and smacked his hand away before he had a chance to touch the new additions. Another wave of discomfort shot through him as he was reminded that he was not himself. "What the hell was that for?" he asked innocently.

Caitlin crossed her arms across her chest and titled her head to the left. "Those are mine," she said matter-of-factly, "and you don't need to be doing that to them." She fluttered her hands in a manner that was much more effeminate than Barry would have liked. "We have to fix this." Caitlin said as she reached down to help him up. Barry was thankful for the help, but once he was vertical he noticed the shift in his center of gravity and almost fell back down. Caitlin moved without a hint of the economical speed that she had almost taken the two of them a few hundred yards from where the van was. "Whoa." she said aloud, unable to control herself from the same amazement that had flooded through Barry's system the first time he had experienced the thrill of moving faster than any other human ever had before him.

For the first time since he had discovered he was a meta-human, Barry found himself unable to formulate a response. He had never experienced what the other side of his own speed was like until now and it was much different than he would have ever imagined. When he ran it felt like the world around him had slowed down and he had all the time in the universe to examine the environment around him. He could take in all the small details that most would never even consider as he moved through the area with efficient speed. It was a useful tactic that Oliver Queen, the infamous Arrow, had thought him a few months earlier when his team had come to seek help on a case from Starling City that had involved a weapon that Barry could hardly believe. But now, as Caitlin had moved in with his speed to save him from an inevitable fall, he saw what the world was like at increased speed for someone who wasn't a meta-human and it was little more than a flash and blur that he had trouble making sense of. "Agreed," he finally said as he once again collected himself, "but how? We don't even know what caused...this." he motioned to his new body and to Caitlin's.

"I have to check the data," the new Flash said as she sped back to the command station, "there must be something in the data stream that can help. I'm sure of it." Barry could hear the subtle hint of desperation in his friend's tone as she moved back to where she had been when the switch had occurred. "There has to be something," she continued to say as she looked at the screens in front of her, "there must be. I refuse to believe that there isn't some hint, a clue..." her voice trailed as Barry felt his stomach knot a little. He knew before she even told him that her search would be in vain. It wasn't an option that he was in favor of, but it was the only one that made sense to him as he watched her read over the entire transcript several times. "There's no sign of what happened or a spec of evidence of the sonic blast." 

Out of habit Barry felt the compulsion to comfort his friend, but he found as he tried to move towards his friend he managed to do little more than stumble. Instinct kicked in and Barry tried to catch himself before he lost total control, but it was a wasted effort. Caitlin's attention had been caught by his yelp and she rushed over to save him. For the second time in as many minutes. "Thank you," he said as he threw his arms out for balance, "I'm not used to heels yet. It's been a little while since the last time I wore them." Caitlin's expression bordered on amusement and intense interest. "It was for Halloween..." he said in defense of the comment. In truth, it was a mix of a Halloween costume and a stupid bet that he had made with an old school friend that he could memorize the entire equation of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, a feat he should have known better than to even tempt the thought of, and failed. But he wasn't about to try explaining the circumstances with the woman who currently possessed his body. The situation was awkward enough as it was. "Just give me a moment to adjust."

As he found himself walking around in circles in an effort to not only adjust to wearing heels, but adapt to the new distribution of his body mass, Caitlin went back to the station and ran through the data for what must have been the one hundred and fifth time. "Barry, I can't find a damn shred of inconsistent data in this." The former Flash tried to split his attention between walking and listening to what his friend was saying, but he found it was little use. Being a man who weighed in at a little over a hundred and sixty was a lot different than being a woman who was lucky to weigh a hundred and ten. There was also the issue of the dress he was in and that he now had two mounds of extra skin on his chest that made it a slight bit more difficult to balance. "I don't know if it's in here and I am not seeing it or if it's not really here, but I think we might need some help." This caught the attention of the new female as he stumbled the last few feet to where the doctor was.

The sensation of the room about to drop out from beneath his feet found its way back to Barry as he listened to what Caitlin was saying. Until now he had thought it would be a simple fix. Check the raw data, find what went wrong, and then replicate the situation. It was bad enough that he was stuck in Caitlin's body, in the three inch heels that were hell on his feet, and a dress that was about three sizes too small. "Guess this means this isn't a head cold." he joked, badly. He watched as Caitlin tilted his head to the left and bore an expression of denouement. "Yeah, that might have been a little off the mark." he said to himself as he crossed his arms. The alien nature of his new body was brought back to the fore of his mind as the weight from his breasts rested on his arms. "So, if we can't fix this right now..." he let his voice drift on the wind. It still sounded strange to him to hear himself speak, but the sound of Caitlin's voice come out of his mouth. It was a feeling that he was not looking forward to becoming too familiar with.

"It means that we have to head back to S.T.A.R. Labs and see what we can't do from there," she said as she bit her lower lip, "as much as I didn't want to bring Cisco and Dr. Wells in on this. I don't think we have much of an option, Barry. I don't want to be you any longer than I have to and Heaven knows I don't like the idea of you being in my body any more." Caitlin looked at him with the intensity of a thousand suns as he went to sit down on one of the chairs in front of the van. "Cross your legs, you're a woman now." she reminded him. Barry shot her a look of confusion and she motioned for him to cross his legs a second time. "This is even worse than I could have ever dreamed." Barry offered her a look of absolute hurt as he crossed his legs uncomfortably. "These are all things you have to be aware of now, Barry. To the outside world you're me and I am not some cheap slut." Caitlin blew at an errant strand of hair that wasn't there and went back to the terminals.

Barry leaned back in the chair and forced himself to think of a solution that didn't require the assistance of Cisco and Dr. Wells. It was a conversation that he was not looking forward to having or even making the effort to attempt. His mind continued to search for an answer or at least a hint that might set Caitlin off on the right track to resolution, but no matter what he did he came back with the same result she had - zero. "Even if we could convince the two of them that we are in each other's bodies, what could they do to help us?" Barry asked. He could see Caitlin become flushed as he asked, but he couldn't stop himself. It was as if his own emotions were out of his own control. "I'm not saying it's a bad idea. I'm only trying to find a way to say this without it sounding like the two of us have lost our minds." He realized the full weight of the situation as he spoke the exact words that had been tumbling around his mind since he first noticed that there was something off about himself.

"I don't like the thought of having to sit there and make an effort to explain this insane situation either, but what other choice do we have? You can look over the data yourself. Perhaps I missed something." she said as she took a step back from the consoles and motioned for him to check. She watched as he uncrossed his legs and went to stand, but fell back in the chair. "You can't even walk in those, can you? Take them off before you break them. I don't need to have to buy a new pair because you couldn't walk in them." she held her hand out as Barry took off her blue suede heels. "Speaking of, I think it's best if I switch out of this and back into some street clothes. This suit is a bit, uh, tight." she said with a hint of discomfort in her tone that only made Barry smile.

While she switched out of his Flash uniform he went through the data that Caitlin had been over more times than he could have counted. He knew how fast he could read and with his abilities he had no doubt that she had tested those waters. He would have done the same in her situation. "Yeah," he said aloud so she could hear him in the van, "I don't see much in this file. You doing okay in there?" He could hear her saying something, but he couldn't make out what it was. It was obvious from the amount of time that she had been in there that she hadn't been using his abilities to undress. "Do you need help?" 

This time he had no trouble hearing what his friend said as she shouted back out to him. "No." Despite the desire to help her out of the suit - and make sure she wasn't doing things to his body that he knew damn well she would never allow for him to do to her own - he thought better of it and remained where he was. She was in as much unease and discomfort as he was. Who wouldn't be? And the thought of what Cisco would have to say? He knew him well enough to know that once they had reached beyond the disbelief and confusion that it would become a bit of a joke for him. Barry knew this was his way with dealing with the copious amounts of insanity that he was faced with each day, but when you were on the end of that...it lost the ability to be funny. Or ironic. "There," Caitlin said as she came down the small steps and approached Barry, "I feel a lot better. You know, I would never have believed you how uncomfortable that suit is down there if we didn't, uh, end up like this." 

"Maybe you could talk Cisco into adding a little extra room down there?" he asked sheepishly. Caitlin couldn't help but smile a little at the thought. "Well, I don't know about you but I think it's about time we took our chances and went back to S.T.A.R. Labs." Caitlin nodded and went to sit down on the chair beside him. "I don't want to sound like a bitch," Barry said and fought back the laughter that was caught in his throat at the very thought of what he was saying, "but I can't lift all of this by myself. This one is on you." He watched as her expression became one of confusion, the very same brand that he had expressed a little bit earlier when she had to explain to him that he was a woman and unless he wanted to be thought of a slut that he should cross his legs. "You're a man now, which means..." he motioned to the equipment and smirked his trademark smirk, "this one is on you."

Caitlin took a deep breath and within a matter of seconds had the command station cleared. "This whole super speed thing isn't so bad," she mused aloud as Barry carefully walked around the van and climbed in, "I could really see the use of it." Barry looked over to her as she climbed in and turned the key over. "Well, I guess this is where we work out how we plan on telling them about our situation and not sound like a couple of crazy people." Both of them had a moment of shared laughter at the thought. "I would think we were out of our minds if I was them." she reasoned. Barry nodded as the two of them left the airfield and braced himself for the insanity that was ahead of them.


	3. Snowberries

Chapter Three:  
Snowberries

The ride back to S.T.A.R. Labs was filled with a pregnant silence that seemed to swell with each passing minute. Neither one of the scientists knew what to say to the other that hadn't been said earlier at the testing site or had been able to think of something to say that would be of use in their current state, but Caitlin's mind continued to mull over the situation. The faint whisper of a thought that she had continued to miss some small detail continued to ricochet through her mind as she went back over the chain of events. Each time she went over it she found herself back to the moment before the blast, but she couldn't quite solidify the answer that was locked in the recesses of her mind. Caitlin looked over to Barry in her body and watched him as he continued to look at his hands with absolute fascination with the slight hope that he might have formulated an answer. For a moment she wanted to snap him out of his haze, but she understood how he felt. To sit there and look down at your hands and not recognize them, to catch yourself in the side mirror and see the reflection of someone else. It was a sensation that she would rather remove herself from than have to deal with a moment longer. But to do that she would have to enlist the help of those around her. "Uh," Barry spoke up and broke through her thoughts, "I think you missed the exit." 

For several seconds she didn't react to the sound of her former voice telling her she had missed their exit. It wasn't until the second attempt that Barry was able to catch her attention. "Oh shit," she said as she hit the signal light and swung the van around, "I'm sorry. I'm still not used to hearing you speak and sound like me or hearing you when I speak. It's a little...I don't know, odd?" But she knew she didn't have to say it. If there was anyone else in the world who knew exactly how she felt it was the man who sat two feet from where she was. "But I'm sure once we speak to Dr. Wells and Cisco we should be able to fix this. Pretty sure, pretty, pretty sure." she lied in a desperate attempt to assure him and herself that their situation was temporary and everything would be back to normal before the morning. "Hell, we'll look back on this and laugh about that time you were stumbling around in my heels." Again, she lied to herself and Barry but she knew that there wasn't much more that should could do. It was bad enough the solution was out of her reach, did she really want to crush her friend's sense of hope as well?

"Yeah," Barry said as she brought the van to the front entrance, "I don't have to wear those heels again, do I?" Caitlin watched as Barry ran his hands across the dress in an effort to smooth it out. She could tell that he was becoming nervous about the chance that he might have to walk more than a few feet in the shoes, but despite the fact that a small bit of her felt bad for him she denied him an answer. "I swear, I won't look at your breasts or mess with your dress if you can find me some sneakers or something less..." Caitlin's attention switched from the entrance to the man in her body. "Shoes that don't require me to risk the chance of breaking your neck. My neck. This is so much more confusing when I speak it out load. Sounded a lot better in my head." Barry said as he nervously played with his fingers. It took her a moment to realize that he was trying to peel the nail polish off her nails. Out of what she was sure was about to become a ritualistic habit until the two of them were back in their own bodies she swatted his hands again.

"Wait here for a moment," she said as she climbed out of the vehicle and unlocked the entrance, "look, I don't love the thought that you will be walking around in my body much more than you do but until we can find a handle on this we have to act like there's nothing out of the ordinary. And that means you will have to walk around in those cute as hell three inch heels. So, do us both a favor and woman up." Caitlin couldn't believe the conversation she was having, but she had to focus on other things lest she lost her mind. "I would also really like it if you could avoid the whole breaking my ankle thing." She watched as Barry feigned a hurt look that was so in character with how she would have reacted that for a second she forgot that she was Caitlin Snow herself. There was something a little scary in the thought that he could mimic her that well, but she knew it would be more than helpful if this should take longer to fix than she was allowing herself to hope for.

As the two switched scientists came to a stop in the parking lot in front of the lab entrance, Caitlin reached behind the seat and handed Barry her blue suede heels. "I hate to sound like an idiot, but do you have any tips for walking in these things?" he asked. Caitlin searched his eyes for a moment and tried to recreate the smirk that Barry had so often displayed. She watched as he cringed a little and sat down in the seat. "Yeah, you really need to work on that. You look like you can't decide if you're a stalker or in excruciating pain." The sound of her own voice telling her that she looked anything less than calm and collected almost brought a tear to her eye. It was an odd experience, to be sure, and it wasn't really her own thoughts about herself but this didn't change the fact that she knew there was truth in what he was saying and it felt like it had come from her own head. "Don't look so serious, loosen up a little." he offered her in an effort to ease her discomfort. "And then you can show me how the hell to walk in these because I am pretty sure I'll kill myself in them if you don't."

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Caitlin knew she could have been down to the cortex within a matter of seconds, but she wanted to keep an eye on Barry and make sure he didn't wind up breaking his neck. It was a fear that was soon realized as the two of them reached the second floor elevator and Barry lost his footing and almost fell over. Again, it was Caitlin's swift reaction speed that had saved him and for a single moment she felt like maybe this was better than what her life had been before. She could do a lot of wonderful things as Barry and the Flash that she couldn't do as a doctor and Caitlin. It was both a welcome thought and one that felt equally alien. Caitlin had seldom ever thought of what it would be like to be someone else. The way she saw it, if she wanted to change something about her life or herself she would. There was no reason to dream of being in someone else's shoes. Even when she was confronted with a universe of abilities through the emergence of the meta-humans there was never a moment when she sat down and thought about what it must be like to be one, to have the ability to alter the weather or teleport from one location to another. But now that she found herself in the body of one it was like something had awakened from deep within her subconscious mind. Something that was making its way to the surface in the most unusual ways. Some of which intrigued her. Others which frightened her more than she would have ever wanted to admit. 

"Barry," Cisco announced as Caitlin walked came around the corner and entered the cortex, "just the crazy son of a bitch I was looking for. You won't believe some of the upgrades to the suit I have been working on!" There was a noticeable hint of excitement as he lead her to where the spare suit was kept. "I know you wanted to keep the design the same, but I couldn't resist tweaking a few of the minor details. Like this," he said as he motioned to the center emblem, "we now have a fully functional defibrillator. How cool is that?" Caitlin faked a smile as Cisco continued to rattle off a few of the other enhancements that he had managed to add to the suit since she had left. Sometimes, she wondered where in the hell he found the time to do such things. It was like she would turn around and he would have went from enjoying an ice cream cone to having built a transient bridge to another universe. "...and then there's this, and let me say that I have done a lot of cool stuff, but this one I am really excited about," he explained as he reached down and lifted the right hand, "you can now channel the static electricity that's produced from when you...zoom around the room. Another words, you can shoot lightening out of your fingers. High five!" Cisco held his hand up as Barry stumbled in the room.

"Don't mind me," he announced as he stumbled over to the nearest seat behind the control console of the cortex, "I'm just going to have a seat right here and wait until you two are done. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about." Caitlin could hear the sarcasm drip out of her mouth and wanted to beat him over the head for being so undeniably Barry Allen. Despite this, she knew that he was right about the need to talk about things other than the newest additions to her suit. To Barry's suit. "Is Dr. Wells around?" Barry asked as he looked around the room. She had noticed that it was quite quiet in the cortex, but didn't have time to really reflect upon it as Cisco had drawn her attention from the reason she had come back. "Because I don't see him. And I think we should discuss this with him, too." Cisco offered Caitlin a confused look and then directed his attention to Barry in her body.

Taking in as much oxygen as her new lungs could hold, Caitlin took a breath. "We need to talk about something that I know will sound, and believe me when I say this because I think it's absolutely insane myself, unreal but I am not Barry Allen and that over there is not Caitlin Snow." Cisco titled his head and took a seat across from where Barry was. "I know, I know. This sounds incredible, but I can only assure you that I am Caitlin and that the woman next to you is, in fact, Barry." She knew as she said it there was no way that her friend would ever be able to believe her. How could he? It was like asking him to accept that time travel was well within the range of possibility. "Look, we didn't know who else to talk to about this and since Dr. Wells isn't here yet and we don't have the time to waste..." her voice trailed as she scanned the room for Dr. Wells. She didn't want to have this conversation a second time. The first time was more than awkward enough for her taste.

"You're screwing with me," Cisco replied as he reached across the control console for his drink, "there's no way in hell what you're saying could even exist within the realm of scientific possibility. I mean, c'mon. You expect me to believe that you're Caitlin," Cisco looked over to Caitlin in Barry's body then to Barry in Caitlin's, "and you're Barry? I can't do it." Caitlin wanted to throw her hands up in defeat, but before she could she noticed the wheels turn in Cisco's head. She knew where his mind was about to venture, but she went with it because she knew better than to interrupt his train of thought. "Okay, so I'm sure that we have all seen the Freaky Friday scenario in a hundred movies and shows. You know, how in the movies there's always this scene where the switched characters are trying to convince someone else of the switch," Cisco explained as Caitlin rolled her eyes, "and to do that they have to share something with them that only the other would know? Hit me. Tell me something that only Caitlin would know." Cisco crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.

Caitlin's mind was flooded with a hundred different options to offer her friend, but there was only one that would convince him without a doubt of the truth. "You can't watch The Walking Dead alone because you're frightened to death by the idea of zombies," she said as she watched the expression on Cisco's face shift from disbelief to absolute shock, "and if I still haven't managed to convince you...you also have a slight - what is it you call it - bro crush? Bro crush on Norman Reedus." Caitlin sat down next to Cisco and watched as his face became flushed with embarrassment. She could easily tell that it was not something that he had ever shared with Barry, and by the look worn across his features, had no real intention of telling his friend about. "Believe me now?" 

The look of astonishment on Cisco's face was more than enough to sell her on the fact that she had managed to convince him that what the two of them were saying was the truth, but hearing the words come out of his mouth helped to really drive it home for the newly minted man that Caitlin had become. "There's no way I would have ever told that to you," Cisco said as he looked at Caitlin, "unless you are really Caitlin in there." Caitlin rested her hands on her hips and let out a loud sigh of defeat. "I mean, is that really you in there? In Barry's...body?" She could still sense that there was some question as to the veracity of the claim, but he was about to come around. "Because if it is, I have to know....what's it like to, you know, whoosh!" Cisco made an obnoxious motion with his hands that made Caitlin roll her eyes. Barry shifted in his seat and crossed his arms under his breasts. "And you, oh man! I have, like, a hundred thousand questions for you!" Cisco beamed.

"I don't think we have time for a hundred questions, Cisco," Barry replied as he brushed an errant strand of Caitlin's hair from his eyes, "what we would really like is to fix this. Switch back to normal as fast as we can." Cisco's expression went limp as Barry dealt the cards of the conversation. "I'm sure Caitlin would be more than happy to answer any, uh, questions you might have once you've helped us out." Caitlin could see what Barry was trying to and knew that if they could direct his attention to a solution, it might be easier to leave Dr. Wells out of the loop. If it could be done. That was still something they hadn't really talked about, but she knew with each passing moment the conversation drew closer and closer. "What do you say? Then we can talk about how this feels." 

Cisco let out a long sigh before he slide the chair to one of the monitors and started typing. "Okay," he said as his attention became laser focused on the screen, "but until we fix this...I am calling you guys Snowberries." Caitlin threw the most disgusted look Barry had ever seen his own face make at Cisco while he was unable to even respond. "I think it kind of fits. You know, because..." Both of them shot lasers at their friend and directed his attention back to the screen. This was their best chance to reverse this. "You'll both come to love it." Cisco said, in an effort to have the last word. Neither Barry nor Caitlin cared enough at this point to say much of anything.


	4. Beta Test

Chapter Four:  
Beta Test

It had been a little more than an hour since Caitlin and Barry had found themselves in one another's bodies and despite the fact that three of the brightest minds in Central City were focused on working to finding a solution, Barry could feel all sense of hope drain out of him as he looked over the collection of data in front of himself and Cisco. "I don't know what I am looking at," he said as he leaned over behind Cisco, "but it doesn't look like there's been too much change in my neural - I mean, her - neural network. God, this whole thing is making me dizzy." Cisco spun around to say something to him, but before he had a chance he was face-to-face with Caitlin's - now Barry's - ample cleavage. "Hey," Barry said sharply as he realized what had transpired and spun Cisco back around in the chair, "eyes on the monitor. Bad enough I have to walk around with these damn things. I would like to return them to Caitlin as fast as we can. So, let's continue to focus on the task at hand and not...these." he said trying to cover himself. As Cisco went back to the data on the screen and tried to decode what he was looking at Barry decided it was best if he checked around for one of the sweaters with S.T.A.R. Labs on it. He couldn't undress, sadly, but he could throw something on over the dress and relax a little bit. And he would not have to keep re-directing Cisco's attention each time they found something.

"You're right," Cisco said from across the room as Barry continued to search for something to wear over Caitlin's dress, "there doesn't seem to be any change at all in the neural cognitive network. In fact, it looks exactly the same as the last time we ran a diagnostic on you. It's really weird, man." Cisco sat the drink he had been nursing down on the desk and motioned for Caitlin to remove the diodes that had been attached to her current form. "You can come out of the closet now," he said as he looked over to Barry who had thrown his hands up in defeat, "too soon?" Caitlin offered him a cross look and directed her attention to Barry. "Yeah, I'm thinking that was too early. Are you looking for something? 'Cause I don't think there's too much of anything over there, man." Barry swallowed the distaste in his mouth and sulked back over to the command console. "I won't look at your boobs, if it makes you feel better. No matter how nice they are..." he said under his breath, hoping that Caitlin didn't hear him.

But his luck wasn't what he had liked to have believed. "You were looking at my breasts!" Caitlin shouted as she focused her laser-like attention to Cisco who had almost fallen further in his seat than Barry had ever seen before, "don't you even think about it! Those are mine! It's bad enough I have to deal with the thought that there's a man in my body! I would like to think that you, someone I have called friend and watched The Walking Dead with, would be interested in more than two fat deposits on my chest. Now, correct me if I am wrong on this one, Cisco." she yelled. Barry watched mortified as Caitlin moved his limbs in a fashion that was undeniably feminine and felt his blood run cold. It was strange to see Caitlin's mannerisms coming out of his body, her tone, and her walk. It was almost like watching an alien movie in which the creature from another world had taken over the lives of those on Earth and were still trying to figure out how the human race worked. "Men," she said finally resting her hands on her hips and leaning a touch to the left. Barry couldn't help but cringe a little at the sight.

Cisco tried to speak, but Caitlin would have none of it as she threw her hands up in front of him. "This is the exact reason I need a sweater or something," Barry announced breaking the silence, "so we can avoid shit like this." Caitlin directed her attention for a moment from Cisco to Barry and back. After a moment of consideration, Barry watched as Caitlin left the room. Once she was out of earshot for a brief moment in search of a sweater for him, he looked over to his other friend. "Dude," Barry tried to cross his arms again but found it still to an uncomfortable situation, "I think Caitlin's is a total hottie, too. I do, so trust me when I say I know how you feel. But you've spent the last couple of years working side by side with her. Either say something or don't, but don't confuse your feelings for her with me. She's not in this body right now. I am. And I don't like the thought that you're checking out my breasts." Barry explained. The words sounded completely alien to him. His breasts. It was not a thought that he relished too much. Before he could continue his conversation with Cisco, Caitlin had returned with a sweater. "Oh, thank God. I could kiss you," he said as he took the article of clothing and drew it over his slightly exposed breasts, "if it wouldn't be totally awkward to kiss myself."

Before their attention could be distracted a second time, there was a notification emitted from one of the monitors. "Curious," Cisco said aloud as he looked over the information in an effort to win back his standings with both of his switched around friends, "you two might want to see this." Caitlin and Barry both came up behind Cisco and watched the monitor. "Okay, so from what Barry and I can tell there was no change in your neural cognitive network. It's the exact same as the last time we ran the diagnostic, which was a couple of weeks back when we had to deal with that whacked out dude, Rainbow Raider - still a cool name," Cisco explained and offered Barry a fist bump before he realized it wasn't Caitlin he was about to bump and went back to his explanation, "moving on, this is what it looked like after that." Cisco brought up the scan. "Now, this is the one we took a few minutes back." This time he brought up the most recent. "It looks exactly the same, but there's a small delay that would indicate a different beta wave control pattern." Barry looked at the two scans, but he couldn't see what Cisco was talking about. Lucky for him, however, it seemed like Caitlin knew what she was looking at. 

"Which would mean either what you are looking at is the brain trying to re-write its basic code after an injury," Caitlin continued from what Cisco was about to say, "or you're looking at a mind that has schizophrenia." Cisco offered a high five to Caitlin, this time without the awkward wrong body mistake of the last time, but she didn't take it. "Neither of which helps us too much. And it doesn't offer us a solution to switch us back. All this shows is we're not totally insane. I mean, for all we know I could be Barry still...but only think I am Caitlin. And she's actually Caitlin who thinks she's only Barry." Barry could feel his head start to hurt again as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that he might truly be not Barry, but Caitlin, thinking she's him. "Which doesn't make a lot of sense when you consider the fact that I knew about the Norman Reedus stuff. And we know you never told the real Barry Allen about that. So, that would eliminate the we are not who we think we are dilemma." Cisco nodded and took another sip of his drink. "We still need a fix for this. Before something bad happens."

Barry had to sit down before his head exploded from the information dump that had been laid out for him. As a scientist he knew enough about what was being said that he could follow the two of them, but a lot of it was Spanish to him. "I don't understand how all of this is even real," he said running his free hand through Caitlin's lush brunette hair, "it's like I'm waiting to wake up and be back home on the bed with the last episode of Orange is the New Black playing. Oh, God." Caitlin moved closer and rested her hand on his shoulder. "We really need to bring Dr. Wells in on this. I don't think the three of us alone can fix this." Cisco tried to hide the sting of Barry's statement from his face, but the former Flash caught the look. "I didn't mean it like that, man. It's...it's just I don't want to be stuck like this. No offense, Caitlin. Your body is wonderful and I think your very lovely, but I'm a guy through and through. This kind of thing...not me." Caitlin laughed as Barry ran his hand over hers and smiled up to her. Cisco cocked his head a little at the gestures, but said nothing. "So, do we call Wells? Or do we try and fix this on our own? Because thus far we haven't had much luck and despite the little bits of progress..."

What was meant to be a simple question had become something much more complicated than any of them could have anticipated. "I don't know," Caitlin replied cautiously, "I mean, I know it was my idea to drag you in on this, Cisco, and I love you for not thinking I'm absolutely insane - or Barry, for that matter. But how do we convince Dr. Wells?" Caitlin took the last seat by Barry and crossed her legs. Barry shot a cross look over to her and motioned for her to uncross his legs. "What? It's habit, okay?" she asked defensively. "Back to the issue at hand, what does the beta test really tell us? Anything helpful?" Barry watched as Cisco and Caitlin seemed to mull over the results. Neither one of them seemed to actually understand what they were looking at, though, which made him feel even worse. It meant, in the long and short of it, that whether they liked the thought or not, sooner or later they would have to invite Dr. Wells in on this. He had been instrumental in most of their cases and this one, despite it's special circumstance was another case. No more, no less. 

"What if we re-create the experiment that caused this?" Cisco asked, finally. "I'm sure we can take off before Dr. Wells rolls in and have you two back to normal?" There was more question in his statement than he realized as Barry shifted his weight and re-crossed his legs. "It's our best chance at solving this without Wells and...if nothing else we can check it off the list of tropes. I'm dying to know if anything from those movies is actually right. I mean, we have an honest to God body switch right here! How are you two not loving this?" Cisco beamed. Barry wanted to choke the life out of his friend, but thought better of it. He still needed his help and he would have felt even worse.

"There's no way you're serious, Cisco. We can't try and re-create this!" Barry deflected, "What if it only makes things worse? What if we end up with another switch on our hands? It's out of the question." Caitlin nodded in agreement with him and looked over to Cisco who was trying to formulate a new option. "Besides, what if doing that makes it stick? Like, right now we have a cold and it will revert back to normal in the morning, but if we do that we lose the chance to switch back? I don't want to be a woman forever." From across the space a light chuckle came from Caitlin. "What? I'm being honest right now. This doesn't feel right to me. I feel a little like a freak." Barry caught himself before he could continue with his statement, but not before an expression of hurt etched itself across his former features. "I didn't mean it like that," he explained, "it's just...you know what I am saying. It's not who we are." Caitlin seemed to accept the apology, but he knew better than to think this would be the end of it.

Before any of them could react, Cisco noticed the faint sound of Dr. Harrison Wells entering the room. "What about a switch and freaks now?" he asked quizzically. The room fell silent again as the three scientists each tried to figure out the best lie. "Either way," Wells said as he directed his attention to the command console, "I think we have another meta-human on our hands." Barry watched as Cisco tried to switch off the scans, but it was no use. Wells noticed them before he had the chance to flick them off. "Cisco," he asked as his eyes seemed to narrow in on Cisco, "why are we looking at scans from Barry's neural cognitive network? Something I should know?" Barry watched as Caitlin tried to adopt a stance closer to what he would have fostered. "Barry," Wells asked as he directed his attention to Caitlin, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied, "I felt a little dizzy after the test run and wanted to make sure there wasn't anything wrong." Barry let out a soft sigh. It looked like his mentor was taking the bait. "And I asked Cisco and Caitlin to check." There was a hint of discomfort as she spoke her own name, but Barry was sure no one else had noticed it. Cisco seemed to catch the lie and nodded along with it. For his own part, Barry offered a weak smile. "But, as it turns out...I'm doing fine. Nothing is wrong with me." Dr. Wells nodded and re-directed his attention to the console. "What's this about a new meta?"

Wells hit a few keys and an image of the Central City Pharmacy Town was brought up on the monitors across the room. "It would seem we have someone looking to steal some pharmacological supplies," the elder scientist explained as he brought up another feed, "but the trouble is...look at how the customers are acting." Barry directed his attention to the feed in front of him. He couldn't have been sure, but it looked like the customers were having a shared hallucination. "I don't want to be hasty, but you should check this one out, Barry." Caitlin stood there and looked over to the real Barry who was silently trying to remind her that she was, at least right now, the Flash. "Go, Barry. We can help you from here." Wells said suspiciously as Caitlin continued to stand there. A moment later, it seemed like she caught on and bolted out of the cortex. "Are we sure he's okay?" Wells asked as he looked over to Barry and Cisco. Neither one of them knew how to respond, so they both shared a look and a nod.


End file.
